Sludge thickening method

ABSTRACT

A differential rate rotary thickener; a power detector which is disposed in a sludge receiver tank for thickened sludge thickened in the differential rate rotary thickener; a discriminator which receives an electric signal for a thickened sludge concentration detected by the power detector and which calculates and discriminate the data; a first controller which receives an instruction signal being a discriminated result in the discriminator and which operates an outer cylinder driving machine and a screw driving machine; a ratio setter which receives a discriminated signal of the discriminator and which increases or decreases a chemical feed rate of flocculant stepwise; and a second controller which receives an instruction signal from the ratio setter and which operates a flocculant-feeding pump are provided. Thickening of sludge is performed by controlling the chemical feed rate, a rotational speed of a screw, and a rotational speed of an outer cylinder screen.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/911,475, filed Oct. 12, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,961 which wasthe National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2005/013292,filed Jul. 20, 2005, which claims priority under 35 USC §119 to Japaneseapplication no. 2005-116491, filed on Apr. 14, 2005, the disclosures ofwhich are expressly incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sludge thickening device for and asludge thickening method of thickening sewage mixed raw sludge, sewagedigested sludge, excess activated sludge, and the like, and particularlyto a sludge thickening device for and a sludge thickening method ofcontrolling an amount of flocculant added to sewage sludge, and therotational speeds of a screw and an outer cylinder screen of adifferential rate rotary thickener which performs thickening using afiltering separation method while rotating the screw and the outercylinder screen at different speeds from each other.

BACKGROUND ART

A screw press has been well known as an apparatus for thickening anddehydrating sludge including organic substances of poor filtrationcharacteristics, the screw press reducing moisture content in dehydratedsludge by adding flocculant to raw slurry including the substances andforming flocs of suspended matter, and recovering filtration surface,which is easily clogged, while rotating a screw provided in an outercylinder screen. Furthermore, a screw press is disclosed, which isprovided with a screw and an outer cylinder screen configured to rotatein opposite directions to each other, and which aims to prevent anexcessive load by means of decreasing the speed of an outer cylinderscreen by detecting a load with a load detecting device installed in anouter cylinder screen drive motor. (Refer to Patent Document 1).

Furthermore, a control apparatus is disclosed, in which a filtrationapparatus that a screw is rotatably provided inside a filter is providedwith a supply pressure detecting means, a screw torque detecting means,and a screw-rotational speed control means so that the rotational speedof the screw is controlled using a detected results of the supplypressure detection and the torque detection to thereby maintain themoisture content of a thickened sludge to be constant (refer to PatentDocument 2).

As a thickener which is used for thickening raw sludge and the like, adifferential rate rotary thickener is disclosed in which an outercylinder including on the circumferential surface thereof a screen (afilter element), and a screw, which is concentrically located within theouter cylinder, rotate in the opposite direction; and sludge, which isfed into the outer cylinder being disposed substantially horizontally,is thickened using a filtering separation method and discharged whiletransferring the sludge in the axial direction of the outer cylinder byusing the screw (refer to Patent Document 3).

As a control apparatus for a rotary thickener, a centrifugal thickeneris disclosed in which a disc-shaped detecting body is submerged inthickened sludge, and a torque detecting apparatus is provided to adrive motor being connected to the detecting body so as to measure thesludge concentration, whereby an amount of feed sludge and therotational speed of an outer cylinder bowl are adjusted (refer to PatentDocument 4). Moreover, a centrifugal thickener is disclosed, in which aviscosity detector and an automatic control means are provided withwhich, after submerging a rotary wing in the thickened sludge, adetected concentration value detected from rotary torque of the rotarywing is outputted so that the concentration of the thickened sludge ismaintained to be constant by controlling a rotation difference (refer toPatent Document 5).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei4-238699 (claim 2, FIG. 1)

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-239314(claim 4, FIG. 1)

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-179492

Patent Document 4: Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. Hei6-25747 (claim 1, FIG. 1)

Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 1-39840 (Scope ofClaim, FIG. 5)

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A first problem is that, for sludge having favorable filtrationcharacteristics with low viscosity, a conventional screw press preventsoccurrence of an excessive load and obtains a cake having a uniformmoisture content by controlling the rotational speed of a screw and,however, for sludge having poor filtration characteristics, when thevolume of a filtration chamber is decreased for compressing anddehydrating the sludge, a filtration surface of an outer cylinder screenis clogged at an early stage; or, when rapidly compressing the sludge,it is leaked from the outer cylinder screen along with filtrationliquid, thus, there is a possibility that the filtration liquid issuspended. Thus, there is a problem that thickening efficiency is low,and it is difficult to cause the concentration of obtained thickenedsludge to be uniform.

In addition, there is a problem that, for an apparatus which detects aconcentration and a feed amount of raw slurry and control theconcentration of thickened sludge and a torque, since an amount ofsupplied sludge and a concentration thereof are constantly changed andthen running torques applied to a screw and an outer cylinder screen arechanged, it is difficult to cause the concentration of the thickenedsludge to be uniform.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sludge thickeningdevice and a sludge thickening method, which can cause a concentrationof thickened sludge to be uniform with a high thickening efficiency.

A second problem is that, in a conventional differential rate rotarythickener, since a thickening efficiency changes depending on the ratioof the outer diameter of a screw shaft and the inner diameter of anouter cylinder screen, a high thickening efficiency is not necessarilyachieved. In addition, there is a problem that, in a conventionaldifferential rate rotary thickener, a single screw vane does notnecessarily contribute to achieving a high thickening efficiency withrespect to various attributes of raw slurries of sludge to be thickened,a target concentration of thickened sludge, and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a differentialrate rotary thickener which has a high thickening efficiency.

A third problem is that, although a conventional laser optical sludgeconcentration meter and a conventional microwave concentration meter areeffective in measuring a raw slurry of low density with a high accuracy,they have a difficulty in measuring raw slurry with a high thickeningrate as thickened sludge since a solid portion has a high density. Theaccuracy of the measurement depends on the shape and size of a solidportion in the sludge, and ancillary equipments for the measurement alsois complicated. Furthermore, a conventional apparatus in which adisc-shaped detecting body and a rotary wing are submerged to measure asludge concentration has drawbacks that sludge is deposited on the discbeing horizontally placed, which results in an error in running torque,or an action, which causes the disc to be pressed upward from the bottomthereof, is produced due to a change in increase of flow, which resultsin an unstable electric signal. The rotary wing submerged in the sludgealso has a drawback that there is an action which pushes back the rotarywing, causing an electric signal to be unstable.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a sludgethickening device and a sludge thickening method, which make it possiblethat data dispersion of obtained sludge concentrations is reduced byusing a detecting body of a concentration detector to be disposed inthickened sludge, the detecting body being formed such that it is noteasily influenced by change of flow; and, Additionally, data of sludgeconcentration having only small data dispersion are obtained in theprocesses of such sludge having poor filtration characteristics, such asexcess activated sludge or the like in addition to sewage mixed sludgeor sewage primary sludge having comparatively favorable filtrationcharacteristics, so that a stable control of the concentration ofthickened sludge can be performed.

To achieve the above object, a first feature of the present invention isthat a sludge thickening device includes: a differential rate rotarythickener, which is provided with a screw in an rotatable outer cylinderscreen, filters raw slurry sludge with the outer cylinder screen, theraw slurry sludge being fed to a feed end of the outer cylinder screen,and discharge thickened sludge from a discharge end of the outercylinder screen, while rotating the screw at a different speed; athickened-sludge-concentration detecting section which detects a sludgeconcentration of the thickened sludge discharged from the differentialrate rotary thickener; a flocculant-feeding section which includes aflocculant-feeding pump for feeding flocculant to the raw slurry sludge;and a control section which controls a rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen, a rotational speed S of the screw, and an amount of theflocculant, the flocculant to be fed by the flocculant-feeding pump.

The differential rate rotary thickener includes an outer cylinderdriving machine for rotating the outer cylinder screen, and a screwdriving machine for rotating the screw.

The thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section includes a sludgereceiver tank for storing the thickened sludge discharged from thedifferential rate rotary thickener, and a power detector for detecting asludge concentration of the thickened sludge and sending an electricsignal to the control section.

The control section includes: a discriminator for receiving the electricsignal sent from the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section,and for thus performing arithmetic on, and discriminating, the electricsignal data; a first controller for receiving a first instruction signalsent from the discriminator, and for thus controlling rotational speedsrespectively of the outer cylinder driving machine and the screw drivingmachine; a ratio setter for receiving the first instruction signal sentfrom the discriminator, and for thus increasing/decreasing chemical feedrate α of the flocculant fed to the raw slurry sludge stepwise; and asecond controller for receiving a second instruction signal sent fromthe ratio setter, and for thus operating the flocculant-feeding pump.

In the first feature of the present invention, by controlling thechemical feed rate α of flocculant, and the rotational speeds of thescrew and the outer cylinder screen rotating at different speeds fromeach other, the amount of chemicals of flocculant can be minimized, andthickening concentration of sludge after thickening can be maintained ata mean concentration.

The outer cylinder screen may be closed at both ends with disc-shapedflange plates; the screw may include a cylindrical center axle, on anouter surface of which a screw vane is provided; a diameter f of thecylindrical center axle may be 40% to 70% of an inner diameter F of theouter cylinder screen; an inlet opening for leading the raw slurrysludge into the outer cylinder screen from a cylindrical hollow part ofthe cylindrical center axle may be provided on a part of a peripheralsurface of the cylindrical center axle, the part being near one end ofthe outer cylinder screen; and an outlet opening for discharging thethickened sludge may be provided on the flange plate placed near theother end of the outer cylinder screen.

According to the above constitution, it is possible to provide a sludgethickener in which recovering effect of a screen surface is high, andthickened sludge or the like can be discharged to the outside of theouter cylinder screen without undergoing a large discharge resistance sothat thickening of a substance to be processed such as sludge can beperformed at high efficiency.

A degree-of-outlet-opening adjusting mechanism, whichincreases/decreases an area of opening of the outlet opening, may beprovided to the outer cylinder.

According to the above constitution, a retaining period of sludge in theouter cylinder screen can be adjusted.

The degree-of-outlet-opening adjusting mechanism may include a shutterplate, which is placed so as to overlap the flange plate, on which theoutlet opening is formed, and which provides a rotational displacementrelative to the flange plate; and increase/decrease the degree ofopening of the outlet opening with the shutter depending on a positionof the shutter displaced in rotation relative to the flange plate.

According to the above constitution, a retaining period of sludge in theouter cylinder screen can be adjusted.

An opening edge of the outlet opening on an outer peripheral side of theouter cylinder may be located substantially at the same position as thecylindrical peripheral surface of an outer cylinder screen, when theedge and the surface are viewed in the radial direction of the outercylinder.

According to the above constitution, since sludge is not retained in theouter cylinder screen after operation is finished, cleaning isfacilitated. Moreover, since there is little resistance on the outlet, adischarging of thickened sludge is favorable. Thus, flocculated floc isnot destroyed.

The screw vane may be of one of the types of single, double, and triple.

According to the above constitution, depending on the properties ofsludge, such as sewage mixed raw sludge or sewage primary sludge havingcomparatively favorable filtration characteristics, or excess activatedsludge or the like having poor filtration characteristics; or dependingon a target thickening concentration, one of a single-thread vane, adouble-thread vane, a triple-thread vane can be selected for the screwvane so that thickening efficiency can be raised.

It is possible that the discriminator stores an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit of rotational speed C max of theouter cylinder screen, a lower limit of rotational speed C min of theouter cylinder screen, an upper limit S max and a lower limit S min ofrotational speed of the screw, which are set in advance; and sends thefirst instruction signal when a thickened sludge concentration X, whichis detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, isnot less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration and not greater than the lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration; the first controller receives the firstinstruction signal sent from the discriminator; and, when the thickenedsludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not less than theupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration, increases arotational speed of the screw driving machine stepwise when the chemicalfeed rate of flocculant is not greater than a lower limit of α minchemical feed rate; and, when the thickened sludge concentration X,which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not greater than the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, decreases the rotational speed of the screwdriving machine stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration Xbecomes not less than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until a rotational speed S of the screw becomes equalto the lower limit S min of the rotational speed; the ratio setterstores the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, and an upper limit α maxof the chemical feed rate of flocculant and a lower limit α min of thechemical feed rate of flocculant, which are respectively a maximum valueand a minimum value of the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, and whichare all set in advance; receives the first instruction signal sent fromthe discriminator; and when the thickened sludge concentration X, whichis detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, isnot less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration, sends a second instruction signal until the thickenedsludge concentration X becomes not greater than the upper limit X max ofthe thickened sludge concentration or until the chemical feed rate offlocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate;and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not greater thanthe lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, sends thesecond instruction signal when the rotational speed S of the screw isnot greater than the lower limit of the rotational speed S min; and thesecond controller receives the second instruction signal sent from theratio setter; and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which isdetected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is notless than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration,decreases the chemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwise until thethickened sludge concentration X becomes not greater than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration or until the chemicalfeed rate of flocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α min ofchemical feed rate; and when the thickened sludge concentration X, whichis detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, isnot greater than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration, increases the chemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwisewhen the rotational speed S of the screw is not greater than the lowerlimit S min of the rotational speed.

According to the above constitution, since an order of priority isdetermined for the two operational factors of the chemical feed rate αof flocculant and the rotational speed S of the screw to be thereaftervaried stepwise in response to variation in a thickened sludgeconcentration, it is possible to provide a sludge thickener, which makesit possible that an amount of used chemicals of flocculant is minimizedand high thickening efficiency and thickened sludge concentration withlittle variation is achieved. Moreover, since the concentration ofthickened sludge is stable, a management of process operation afterthickening is facilitated.

It is possible that the discriminator stores an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit C max of the rotational speed ofthe outer cylinder screen, a lower limit C min of the rotational speedof the outer cylinder screen, an upper limit S max and a lower limit Smin of the rotational speed of the screw, which are set in advance; andsends the first instruction signal when a thickened sludge concentrationX, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration or not greater than the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration; the first controller receives the firstinstruction signal sent from the discriminator; and when the thickenedsludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not less than theupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration, increases therotational speed of the screw driving machine stepwise until therotational speed S of the screw becomes equal to the upper limit S maxof the rotational speed when the chemical feed rate of flocculant is notgreater than the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate; and when therotational speed S of the screw is not less than the upper limit S maxof the rotational speed, decreases the rotational speed of the outercylinder driving machine stepwise until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes not greater than the upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration; and when the thickened sludgeconcentration X, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentrationdetecting section, is not greater than the lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration, decreases the rotational speed of thescrew driving machine stepwise until the thickened sludge concentrationX becomes not less than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until the rotational speed S of the screw becomes equalto the lower limit S min of the rotational speed; and when therotational speed of the screw is not greater than the lower limit ofrotational speed S min, increases the rotational speed of the outercylinder driving machine stepwise until the sludge concentration becomesnot less than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until the rotational speed of the outer cylinder screenbecomes equal to the upper limit of rotational speed C max; the ratiosetter stores the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, and an upper limitα max of the chemical feed rate of flocculant and a lower limit α min ofthe chemical feed rate of flocculant, which are respectively a maximumvalue and a minimum value of the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, andwhich are all set in advance; and receives the first instruction signalsent from the discriminator; and when the thickened sludge concentrationX, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration, sends the second instruction signal until the thickenedsludge concentration X becomes less than the upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration or until the chemical feed rate offlocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate;and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not greater thanthe lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, sends thesecond instruction signal when the rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen is not less than the upper limit of the rotational speedC max; and the second controller receives the second instruction signalsent from the ratio setter; and when the thickened sludge concentrationX, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration, decreases the chemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwiseuntil the thickened sludge concentration X becomes not greater than theupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration or until thechemical feed rate of flocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α minof chemical feed rate; and when the thickened sludge concentration X,which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not greater than the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, increases the chemical feed rate α of flocculantstepwise when the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen is notless than the upper limit C max of the rotational speed.

According to the above constitution, since an order of priority for thethree operational factors of the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, therotational speed S of the screw, and the rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen is determined and is varied stepwise, it is possible toprovide a sludge thickener, in which an amount of used chemicals offlocculant can be minimized, and in which high thickening efficiency andthickened sludge concentration with little variation is achieved inresponse to variation in a thickened sludge concentration. Moreover,since the concentration of thickened sludge becomes stable, a managementof process operation after thickening is facilitated.

It is possible that the discriminator stores an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit C max of the rotational speed ofthe outer cylinder screen, a lower limit C min of the rotational speedof the outer cylinder screen, an upper limit S max and a lower limit Smin of rotational speed of the screw, which are set in advance; andsends the first instruction signal when a thickened sludge concentrationX, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection, is not less than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration or not greater than the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration; the first controller receives the firstinstruction signal sent from the discriminator; and when the thickenedsludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not less than theupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration, increases arotational speed of the screw driving machine stepwise andsimultaneously, decreases stepwise the rotational speed of the outercylinder driving machine when the chemical feed rate of flocculant isnot greater than the lower limit of chemical feed rate α min; and whenthe thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not greater thanthe lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, decreasesthe rotational speed of the screw driving machine stepwise, andsimultaneously, increases the rotational speed of the outer cylinderscreen stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration X becomes notless than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration,or until a rotational speed S of the screw becomes equal to the lowerlimit S min of the rotational speed or until the rotational speed of theouter cylinder screen becomes equal to the upper limit C max of therotational speed; the ratio setter stores the chemical feed rate α offlocculant, and an upper limit of the chemical feed rate α max offlocculant and a lower limit of the chemical feed rate α min offlocculant, which are respectively a maximum value and a minimum valueof the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, and which are all set inadvance; and receives the first instruction signal sent from thediscriminator; and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which isdetected by the thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is notless than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration,sends a second instruction signal until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes not greater than the upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, or until the chemical feed rate offlocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate;and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not greater thanthe lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, sends thesecond instruction signal when the rotational speed S of the screw isnot greater than the lower limit of the rotational speed S min or whenthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen is not less than theupper limit C max of the rotational speed; and the second controllerreceives the second instruction signal sent from the ratio setter; andwhen the thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not less than theupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration, decreases thechemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwise until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes not greater than the upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration or until the chemical feed rate offlocculant becomes equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate;and when the thickened sludge concentration X, which is detected by thethickened-sludge-concentration detecting section, is not greater thanthe lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, increasesthe chemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwise when the rotationalspeed S of the screw is not greater than the lower limit S min of therotational speed.

According to the above constitution, the rotational speed of the screw Sand the rotational speed of the outer cylinder screen C aresimultaneously controlled when an order of priority for the threeoperational factors of the chemical feed rate α of flocculant, therotational speed of the screw S, and the rotational speed of the outercylinder screen C is determined and varied stepwise in respect withvariation in a thickened sludge concentration. Therefore, it is possibleto provide a sludge thickener, in which a variation in a thickenedsludge can be promptly managed. Therefore, an amount of used chemicalsof flocculant can be minimized, and then, high thickening efficiency andthickened sludge concentration with little variation can be achieved.Moreover, since the concentration of thickened sludge is stable, amanagement of process operation after thickening is facilitated.

It is possible that the discriminator stores an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an optimal rotational speed Cso of the outercylinder screen, and an optimal rotational speed Sso of the screw, whichare set in advance; and sends the first instruction signal at a timewhen starting to operate the differential rate rotary thickener and at atime when an amount of feed raw slurry Qs varies when a thickened sludgeconcentration X, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentrationdetecting section, is lower than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration and higher than the lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration, the optimal rotational speed Cso of theouter cylinder screen and the optimal rotational speed Sso of the screwbeing defined by relational expressions, which are derived by settingthe rotational speeds of the screw and the outer cylinder screendepending on a fluctuating amount of feed raw slurry Qs, as follows:Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw=Rotational factor S1×Processspeed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h);andOptimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen=Rotationalfactor C1×Process speed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h);the first controller receives the first instruction signal sent from thediscriminator; and controls the screw driving machine and the outercylinder driving machine based on the optimal rotational speeds Sso, Csocalculated from the above relational expressions at a time when startingto operate the differential rate rotary thickener and at a time when theamount of feed raw slurry Qs varies when a thickened sludgeconcentration X, which is detected by the thickened-sludge-concentrationdetecting section, is lower than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration and higher than the lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration.

According to the above constitution, even if an amount of feed rawslurry Qs is varied, since the screw and the outer cylinder screen arerotated at an optimal speed of rotation for thickening the amount offeed raw slurry Qs, it is possible to provide a sludge thickener inwhich thickening of sludge can be performed at high efficiency.

The thickened-sludge-concentration detecting section may include acylinder-shaped detecting body with a lower end portion being opened,which is suspended down into the thickened sludge, and an upper endportion provided with an air hole and a driving motor having a rotaryaxle, which is connected to the cylinder-shaped detecting body, and thepower detector may detect a change in an electric current value of thedriving motor and output the change in the electric current value in theform of an electric signal.

According to the above constitution, even for sludge having poorfiltration characteristics such as excess activated sludge or the likein addition to sewage mixed sludge or sewage primary sludge havingcomparatively favorable filtration characteristics, thickened sludgeconcentration data with little dispersion are obtained, and control isperformed based on the thickened sludge concentration data with littledispersion. Therefore, a stable control of thickened sludgeconcentration can be performed.

It is possible that the discriminator receives successive electricsignals sent from the power detector; calculates a mean current value ofthe successive electric signals; performs a comparison operation for themean current value, and rates of upper and lower limits of a stablecurrent value set in advance; decreases a rotational speed S of thescrew if the mean current value becomes successively lower than the rateof the lower limit for the stable current value; and increases therotational speed S of the screw if the mean current value becomessuccessively higher than the rate of the upper limit for the stableelectric value.

According to the above constitution, it is possible to provide a controlapparatus for the differential rate rotary thickener in which therotational speed S of the screw is automatically adjusted depending on achange in the property of sludge, and thereby, a stable constant controlof thickened sludge can be performed with a minimum addition offlocculant.

When the rotational speed S of the screw is even controlled and the meancurrent values have been continuously detected are still becoming higherthan the rate of the upper limit of the stable current value or arestill becoming lower than the rate of the lower limit of the stablecurrent value, it is possible that the discriminator sends aninstruction signal to a flocculant-feeding pump; the flocculant-feedingpump receives the instruction signal sent from the discriminator. Inthis case, a chemical feed rate α of flocculant to be fed to raw slurrysludge may be increased if the mean current value is lower than the rateof the lower limit of the stable current value, and the chemical feedrate α of flocculant to be fed to raw slurry sludge may be decreased ifthe mean current value is higher than the rate of the upper limit of thestable current value.

According to the above constitution, it is possible to provide a controlapparatus for the differential rate rotary thickener in which, achemical feed rate α of flocculant is automatically adjusted dependingon a change in the property of sludge, and therefore a stable constantcontrol of thickened sludge can be performed with a minimum addition offlocculant.

A second feature of the present invention is that a method of separatingand thickening sludge for a differential rate rotary thickener forperforming a filtration of sludge using an outer cylinder screenincludes the steps of: rotating an outer cylinder around a central axisthereof, which is substantially horizontal, the outer cylinder beingclosed at both ends with disc-shaped flange plates and a surface of theouter cylinder being formed by the outer cylinder screen; rotating ascrew in a direction opposite to a direction in which the outer cylinderrotates, the screw being concentrically placed in the outer cylinder;feeding raw slurry sludge as a substance to be processed into acylindrically hollow part of a cylindrical center axle of the screw, adiameter f of the cylindrical center axle being 40% to 70% of aninternal diameter F of the outer cylinder screen; leading the raw slurrysludge into the outer cylinder with an empty space left in an upperportion thereof through an inlet opening provided on a part of a surfaceportion of the cylindrical center axle on one end of the outer cylinder;washing liquid from above on a surface of the outer cylinder; and whilecontinuously or intermittently performing cleaning of the outer cylinderscreen, transferring sludge in the outer cylinder to the other end ofthe outer cylinder using a screw vane provided to an outer surface ofthe cylindrical center axle, and discharging the sludge through anoutlet opening formed on a flange plate near the other end of the outercylinder.

According to the second feature of the present invention, it is possibleto provide a method of separating and thickening sludge for adifferential rate rotary thickener, in which conveying out of sludge isfavorable; reproducing effect/efficiency of a screen surface is high;and sludge thickening efficiency is high.

A retaining period of sludge in the outer cylinder may be adjusted byadjusting an opening area of the outlet opening to beincreased/decreased.

According to the above constitution, it is possible to provide a methodof separating and thickening sludge for a differential rate rotarythickener in which a retaining period of sludge can be adjusted.

A filling rate of sludge in the outer cylinder may be not less than 50%and not greater than 90%.

According to the above constitution, it is possible to provide a methodof separating and thickening sludge for a differential rate rotarythickener, in which recovering effect of a screen surface is high.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire sludge thickener system.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a differential raterotary thickener which is one of constituent parts of a sludgethickener.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an outer cylinder screen of the differentialrate rotary thickener shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the IV-IV line in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a screw in the case where a screw vane of thedifferential rate rotary thickener in FIG. 2 is of a triple-thread type.

FIG. 6 is an side view showing a side of an outer cylinder of thedifferential rate rotary thickener in FIG. 2, on which outlet openingsare disposed.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a differential rate rotary thickener inoperation.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a thickened-sludge concentrationdetecting section for detecting a thickened sludge concentration X ofthickened sludge thickened by the differential rate rotary thickener.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of a cylinder-shaped detecting body,which is one of constituent parts of the thickened-sludge concentrationdetecting section shown in FIG. 8, and which is connected to a rotaryaxle of a motor.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control method of a sludge thickenerwhen a thickened sludge concentration X is out of a setting range.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control method of a sludge thickenerwhen a thickened sludge concentration X is out of a setting range, whenadopting a method in which a screw and an outer cylinder rotatesimultaneously.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a control method of a differential raterotary thickener.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the influence of chemical feed rate onthickened sludge concentrations and recovery rates.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing the influence of rotational speed of screw onthickened sludge concentrations and recovery rates.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing the influence of rotational speed of an outercylinder screen on thickened sludge concentrations and recovery rates.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing a relationship between rotational speed of ascrew and thickened sludge concentrations.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing a relationship between chemical feed ratesand thickened sludge concentrations.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described hereinafter withreference to accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same orsimilar reference numerals and symbols are given to the same or similarcomponents. It should be, however, noted that drawings are schematic,and a relationship between a thickness and size on a plane, a ratio ofthicknesses of respective layers, and the like are different from thoseused in practice. Accordingly, specific thicknesses and sizes should bedetermined in consideration of the description below. It is also to beunderstood that portions are included in drawings, relationships andratios for thicknesses and sizes thereof are different from each otherbetween the drawings.

Embodiments described hereinafter are only to illustrate an apparatus bywhich and a method in which a technological idea of the presentinvention is embodied, and not to specify materials, shapes, structures,positions, and the like, of components as follows. All change whichcomes within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims areintended to be embraced therein.

First Embodiment

A sludge thickener and a sludge thickening method of a first embodimentof the present invention are described in detail with reference todrawings.

[1. A Sludge Thickener]

[Entire Constitution]

First, a constitution of the entire system of a sludge thickener isdescribed. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire sludge thickenersystem. A sludge thickener includes a differential rate rotary thickener80 for thickening raw slurry sludge; a thickened-sludge-concentrationdetecting section 81 for detecting a thickened sludge concentration X ofthickened sludge which is thickened by the differential rate rotarythickener 80 and discharged; a flocculant-feeding section 83 having aflocculant-feeding pump 97 for feeding flocculant to the raw slurrysludge; and a control section 82 for controlling the differential raterotary thickener 80 and the flocculant-feeding pump 97 based onconcentration data from the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection 81.

[Each Constituent Element]

Next, respective constituent elements of the sludge thickener aredescribed in detail with reference to the drawings.

[1] Differential Rate Rotary Thickener

First, referring to FIGS. 2 to 6, the above described differential raterotary thickener 80 is described. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view ofthe differential rate rotary thickener 80. A rack 1 has side plates 3, 5on the left and right sides of the rack 1 to which a bearing sleeve 7and a bearing bracket 9 are fastened on a horizontal axis. An outercylinder 15 is rotatably supported by the bearing sleeve 7 and thebearing bracket 9 with bearing members 11, 13.

The outer cylinder 15 is constituted such that it is closed at its bothends with disc-like flange plates 17, 19, and a cylindrical surfacethereof is formed by an outer cylinder screen 21 made of perforatedplate or the like. A short axle sleeve 23 is fastened to one flangeplate (left side) 17, and the bearing member 11 is fastened to an innerperipheral side of the short axle sleeve 23. A long axle sleeve 25 isfastened to the other flange plate (right side) 19, and the bearingmember 13 is fastened to an outer surface of the long axle sleeve 25.

The cylindrical-shaped outer cylinder screen 21 has a shape which can beseparated in two halves as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and is fastened atits both ends to semicircular ring members 27A and 27B which areconnected to each other with bolts/nuts 29. The left and rightsemicircular rings 27A and 27B are fastened to the flange plates 17 and19 with bolts/nuts 31. A plurality of tie bars 33 are bridged betweenthe right and left semicircular ring members 27A and 27B. A plurality ofsupporting rings 35 are fastened on middle portions in an axialdirection of the respective tie bars 33 to secondarily support the outercylinder screen 21 on middle portions thereof from the outside.

A sprocket 37 for outer cylinder rotary drive is fastened to the longaxle sleeve 25. The sprocket 37 is drivably connected to a drivingmachine for outer cylinder rotary driver, which is not shown in thedrawings, so that the outer cylinder screen 21 is, for example, drivenin a counterclockwise direction (refer to FIG. 7).

In the outer cylinder screen 21, a screw 39 is concentrically disposedsuch that it is rotatable. The screw 39 includes a cylindrical centeraxle 41; a helical screw vane 43 which is provided to an outer surfaceof the cylindrical axle 41; and a rotary drive axle 45 which isconcentrically connected to a closed end (right end) of the cylindricalcenter axle 41. Moreover, for the screw vane 43, for example, one of thetypes of single, double, and triple is selected as needed. FIG. 5 is aview showing a screw 39 with the screw vane 43 which is triple. Table 1is a table showing relationship between the thread types of the screwvane 43, and thickening efficiency (thickening concentration, recoveryrate, filtration rate). In this experimental example, thickeningefficiency increases as the number of screw vanes increases.

TABLE 1 Inner Diameter Diameter of Concentration Thickening RecoveryFiltrating of Outer Cylinder Screw Axle Number of of Raw ConcentrationRate Rate Screen F (mm) f (mm) Screw Vanes Slurry (%) (%) (%) (m3/m2/h)800 420 Single 1.5 4.5 97 10 800 420 Single 1.5 5 95 10 800 420 Double1.5 5.15 95 10 800 420 Triple 1.5 5.1 97 10 800 420 Triple 1.5 5.35 9510

The cylindrical center axle 41 is in the outer cylinder screen 21, andone end (left end) of the cylindrical center axle 41 is extended intothe bearing sleeve 7. The above extended axle portion 47 is rotatablysupported on the bearing sleeve 7 with bearing members 49. The extendedaxle portion 47 is open at an edge thereof, and the opening at the edgeis used as a feed opening 51 for raw slurry sludge (substance to beprocessed).

On a surface of the cylindrical center axle 41 near one end (on the sideof the flange plate 17) of the outer cylinder screen 21, two inletopenings 55 are provided into which raw slurry sludge being a substanceto be processed is led through a cylindrical hollow part 53 of thecylindrical center axle 41. On the cylindrical hollow part 53 of thecylindrical center axle 41, a blind plate 57 is fastened which preventssludge being a substance to be processed from entering into the rightside, on the drawing of FIG. 2, from the position of the inlet openings55 through the cylindrical hollow part 53.

In addition, it is preferable from the viewpoint of thickeningefficiency that an outer diameter f of the cylindrical center axle 41 be40% to 70% of an internal diameter F of the outer cylinder screen 21. Areason for the above is described below. Table 2 is a table showing therelationship between axial ratio (f/F) for the axial diameter f of thescrew 39 and the internal diameter F of the outer cylinder screen 21,and thickening efficiency (thickening concentration, recovery rate,filtration rate), in the case where the screw vane 43 is of single. Inthis experimental example, the thickening concentration where the axialratio is less than 40% is not low compared with that where the axialratio is in the range of 40% to 70%. However, the filtration ratiodecreases, resulting in the decrease of thickening efficiency. Inaddition, the filtration rate does not decrease when the axial ratio isgreater than 70%. However, the thickening concentration is low.Consequently, the decrease of thickening efficiency is caused. That is,when the axial ratio (f/F) for the axle diameter f of the screw 39 andthe internal diameter F of the outer cylinder screen 21 is in the rangeof 40% to 70%, both the thickening concentration and the filtration rateare high so that the thickening efficiency can be increased.

TABLE 2 Inner Diameter Axial Concentration Thickening RecoveryFiltration of Outer Cylinder Diameter of Axial ratio of RawConcentration Rate Rate F (mm) Screw f (mm) f/F (%) Slurry (%) (%) (%)(m3/m2/h) 800 265 33 1.5 4.1 90 5 800 265 33 1.5 3.9 93 5 800 390 49 1.54.2 97 10 800 420 53 1.5 4.5 97 10 800 420 53 1.5 5.0 95 10 800 460 581.5 4.4 97 10 800 460 58 1.5 4.9 94 10 800 600 75 1.5 3.8 98 10

The rotary drive axle 45 passes through the long axle sleeve 25 in theaxial direction thereof, rotatably supported thereon, and is drivablyconnected to a driving machine for screw rotary driver not shown in thedrawings so that the screw 39 is driven, for example, in a clockwisedirection.

The screw vane 43 transfers sludge in the outer cylinder 15 from theleft side (on the side of the flange plate 17) to the right side (on theside of the flange plate 19), on the drawing of FIG. 2, by a clockwiserotation of the screw 39. The outer edge of the screw vane 43 faces theinner surface of the outer cylinder screen 21 with a small gap providedtherebetween to prevent the sludge from taking a short path. Not that, ascraper is provided to the screw vane 43 as needed so that the outercylinder screen 21 can be recovered by scratching.

On the flange plate 19, a plurality of outlet openings 59, are formed tobe openings to discharge thickened sludge in the outer cylinder 15. Eachoutlet opening 59 is an arc-shaped opening, and is concentric with thecenter of the outer cylinder 15. Furthermore, an open edge 61 on theside of the outer surface of the outer cylinder is located almost at thesame position as that of the surface (an inner surface) of the outercylinder surface 21. This means there is no weir between the innersurface of the outer cylinder screen 21 and the outlet opening 59.Therefore, after finishing an operation, cleaning work can be easilydone with no sludge remained in the outer cylinder screen 21.

As well shown in FIG. 6, a shutter plate 63, which is placed so as tooverlap an outer surface of the flange plate 19, is fastened to theflange plate 19 by bolts 65, so that it is enabled to displace inrotation, which serves as an degree-of-outlet-opening adjustingmechanism for adjusting an area of opening (effective area) of theoutlet opening 59. The shutter plate 63 has a wing shaped section 67 forevery outlet opening 59, and uniformly increases or decreases the degreeof opening of the outlet openings 59 with the wing shaped section 67 inresponse to a rotary displacement position thereof (a fixed position ina rotational direction) relative to the flange 19. Note that, athrough-hole 69 for a bolt 65 formed on the shutter plate 63 is acircular arc-shaped long hole, and is concentric with the outer cylinder15. The shutter 63 is fastened with a bolt 65 to the flange plate 19 atan arbitrary angle of rotation within the range of the through-hole 69.

An wash pipe 71 for washing fluid, which is placed exterior to and overthe outer cylinder screen 21, is fastened to left and right side plates3, 5 so that it is bridged between the left and right side plates 3, 5.The wash pipe 71 is placed on a position which is slightly deviated fromthe position right above the outer cylinder screen 21 to the laggingside relative to the rotational direction of the outer cylinder screen21. Thus, cleaning liquid flushed out from the wash pipe 71 iseffectively splayed on the outer cylinder screen 21.

Subsequently, a method of separating and thickening sludge using thedifferential rate rotary thickener 80 according to the above describedconstitution.

The outer cylinder screen 21 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction,and the screw 39 is rotated in a clockwise direction opposite to therotational direction of the outer cylinder screen 21. In a pre-process,for example, flocculant of high molecular polymer is added into rawslurry sludge to thereby flocculate sludge, and the flocculated sludgeis successively fed into the cylindrical hollow part 53 through theinlet opening 51 of the extended axle portion 47. The sludge enters theouter cylinder 15 through the inlet opening 55 and through thecylindrical hollow part 53, and is transferred from one end (left side)of the outer cylinder 15 to the other end (right side) thereof by thescrew vane 43 rotating.

In the above transferring process, liquid constituent (filtrationliquid) in the sludge transmits the outer cylinder screen 21 to beseparated and discharged down through the outer cylinder 15 so that thesludge is thickened. The thickened sludge is smoothly discharged to theoutside of the outer cylinder 15 through the respective outlet openings59 without changing the direction of transfer (in the axial direction)being changed.

Thus, the thickened sludge can be discharged to the outside of the outercylinder screen 21 without undergoing a large discharge resistance sothat polymer-flocculated floc is not destroyed. Moreover, the effectiveareas of the outlet openings of 59 are increased or decreased with theshutter plates 63 so that a retaining period of sludge in the outercylinder 15 can be easily adjusted.

In the above sludge thickening process, cleaning liquid is flushed overthe outer cylinder screen 21 forming the surface of the outer cylinder15 from the wash pipe 71 above the outside of the outer cylinder screen21 to wash the outer cylinder screen 21. Rotation of the outer cylinderscreen 21 contributes to an effective use of the whole filtration area(whole peripheral surface) of the outer cylinder screen 21, hencedrastically increasing process capability. In this case, in order tofavorably maintain an efficiency of the separating and thickening of thesludge, and improve the cleaning and recovering of the outer cylinderscreen 21, the filling rate of sludge in the outer cylinder screen 21may be set at not less than 50% or not greater than 90% as shown in FIG.7.

Moreover, an effective sludge thickening operation is continuouslyperformed by an effect of the conveying of thickened sludge achieved bythe rotation of the screw 39, and an effect of the scratching of theouter cylinder screen 21 achieved due to difference in speed between theouter cylindrical filtration surface (outer cylinder screen 21) and theedge of the screw vane 43 rotating in the direction to the outercylindrical filtration surface. A differential rate between the outercylinder screen 21 and the screw 39 rotating in directions opposite toeach other can be optimally set depending on sludge, and preferably setto not less than 4 RPM. Although washing is always continuouslyperformed, when filtration characteristics are favorable, it may beintermittently performed. Further, when filtration characteristics areexcellent, cleaning liquid may be not used.

As is clear from the above description, using the differential raterotary thickener 80 and the method of separating and thickening sludgeaccording to the present invention, thickening of a substance to beprocessed such as sludge, which is led into the outer cylinder throughthe inlet openings 55 of the cylindrical center axle 41, ishigh-efficiently performed by reverse rotation between the outercylinder screen 21 and the screw 39; and thickened sludge or the likeare discharged to the outside of the outer cylinder through the outletopenings 59 formed on the flange plate 19 located at the end in adirection (in the axial direction of the outer cylinder) in which sludgeis transferred by the rotation of the screw 39.

Thus, there is no possibility that polymer-flocculated floc in sludge isdestroyed; a stable thickening process can be performed; and sludgesmoothly flows with hardly causing clogging.

[2] Flocculant-Feeding Section

Referring to FIG. 1, a flocculant-feeding section 83 is described.

As shown in FIG. 1, a flocculating apparatus 95 is disposed in a frontstage of the differential rate rotary thickener 80; and a sludge circuit96 a of a sludge-feeding pump 96, which feeds excessive sludge from astorage tank or the like, and a chemical feed circuit 97 a of aflocculant-feeding pump 97 are connected to the flocculating apparatus95, respectively. In addition, a flowmeter 98, which detects an amountof raw slurry sludge to be fed into the differential rate rotarythickener 80, is provided between the sludge-feeding pump 96 and theflocculating apparatus 95, and is connected to the discriminator 91 witha flow circuit 98 a.

Sludge and flocculant fed into the flocculating apparatus 95 from thesludge-feeding pump 96 and the flocculant-feeding pump 97, respectively,are stirred by a stirrer 99 and mixed to form flocculated floc, and thesludge is fed into the differential rate rotary thickener 80.

[3] Thickened-Sludge-Concentration Detecting Section

Next, referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a thickened-sludge-concentrationdetecting section is described.

First, a constitution of the thickened-sludge-concentration detectingsection 81 is described.

A sludge receiver tank 88 is disposed at a discharge end of thedifferential rate rotary thickener 80 as shown in FIG. 8, and thickenedsludge, which is thickened in and discharged from the differential raterotary thickener 80, is stored. A power detector 87 is provided with acurrent detector 110 and a detecting monitor 111.

A cylinder-shaped detecting body 90, which is connected to a rotary axle106 of a driving motor 89 of an adjustable-speed motor, is suspendeddown into the sludge receiver tank 88. Power cables 100 and 101 in pairsare connected to the driving motor 89, and furthermore, the powerdetector 87 and a power source 102 of, for example, single phase 100 Vare connected to the power cables 100, 101 in pairs.

The detecting body 90 is submerged in the sludge receiver tank 88 with atop portion remained above so that deposition of sludge on the topportion of the detecting body 90 is prevented. In addition, in thesludge receiver tank 88, an overflow gate 103 is provided to cause thewater level of thickened sludge to be constant.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the detecting body 90 connectedto the driving motor 89. A lower end of the rotary axle 106 of thedriving motor 89 is screwed into and fastened with a lock nut 107 to afastening fitment 105 which is firmly fastened to a top plate 104 on atop end of the detecting body 90. The detecting body 90 suspended downinto the sludge receiver tank 88 is open at the lower end thereof, andan opening 109 is formed on the top plate 104 of the detecting body 90.

Next, a method of detecting a thickened sludge concentration X isdescribed.

The driving motor is started, and the cylinder-shaped detecting body 90suspended down into the sludge receiver tank 88 is revolved on the sametrajectory to cause the thickened sludge to slide over the cylindricalsurface of the detecting body 90. Resistance of the thickened sludge ofthe detecting body 90 is transmitted to the driving motor 89 through therotary axle 106. Fluctuation of a sliding resistance of the sludgecauses a change in a force to the rotary axle 106, and then, a currentvalue of the driving motor 89 changes. The power detector 87 detects thethickened sludge concentration X as a power value based on the changingcurrent value from the power cable 100 on an output side. Then, thepower detector 87 transmits the thickened sludge concentration X in theform of an electric signal to a control section 82. When transmittingthe electric signal to be transmitted, it is, for example, in the rangeof 4 to 20 mA.

Since the detecting body 90 for measuring a rotational resistance isformed in a cylindrical shape and a frictional resistance on thevertical periphery is detected, there is little influence of fluctuationin flow of the thickened sludge flowing down into the sludge receivertank 88. Therefore, data with little dispersion are obtained. Moreover,since air inside the detecting body 90 is discharged through the airhole 109 on the top plate 104, the detecting body 90 is prevented frombeing pushed upward due to the increasing fluctuation in the flow, thenthe electric signal does not become unstable. Since the top portion ofthe detecting body 90 is remained above the surface of the sludge,sludge does not deposit on the top of the detecting body 90, resultingin no error occurs in the running torque.

[4] Control Section

Next, referring to FIG. 1, the control section 82 is described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control section 82 includes the discriminator91, which receives an electric signal of the thickened sludgeconcentration X detected by the power detector 87, and which calculatesthe signal data to be thereafter discriminated; a first controller 92,which receives an instruction signal on a discriminated result of thediscriminator 91, and which operates a rotational speed S of the screw39 and a rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21; a ratiosetter 93, which receives a signal discriminated by the discriminator 91and transmitted therefrom, and which increase/decrease a chemical feedrate α of flocculant; and a second controller 94, which receives aninstruction signal from the ratio setter 93 to thereafter operate theflocculant-feeding pump 97.

In the discriminator 91, the following conditions are set and stored inadvance, such as:

1. An upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration % and alower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration %;

2. A lower limit S min of the rotational speed and an upper limit S maxof the rotational speed of the screw 39 to stop increase or decrease ofthe rotational speed S of the screw 39, and an increment/decrementrotational speed a (a=1 to 2 min⁻¹) for once to increase/decrease therotational speed S of the screw 39 stepwise;3. A lower limit C min of the rotational speed and an upper limit C maxof the rotational speed of the outer cylinder screen 21 to stop increaseor decrease of the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21;an increment/decrement rotational speed b (b=1 to 2 min⁻¹) for once toincrease/decrease the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21stepwise; and4. Optimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso of the screw 39 and the outercylinder screen 21, respectively, which achieve the highest thickeningefficiency with respect to the thickening sludge concentration X and anamount of the feed raw slurry Qs.

In addition, the discriminator 91 is set in advance,

5. To transmit the data to the ratio setter 93 from the discriminator91, depending on the thickened sludge concentration X.

Note that, the discriminator 91 may be set:

6. To decrease the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21stepwise, and send a warning signal out when it becomes equal to thelower limit C min of the rotational speed; or to detect an abnormalityin the thickened sludge concentration X by setting abnormally high andlow values for thickened sludge concentration, and then send a warningsignal out.

In the ratio setter 93, the following conditions are set and stored inadvance:

1. An increment/decrement chemical feed rate d % (d=0.01 to 0.03%) forone time to be increased/decreased stepwise; and

2. A lower limit α min of chemical feed rate % and an upper limit α maxof chemical feed rate % to stop increase or decrease of an addition offlocculation.

Additionally, the ratio setter 93 is set

3. to send to the discriminator 91 from the ratio setter 93 a signal ofinformation that the chemical feed rate α of flocculant has reached thelower limit α min of chemical feed rate %, while retaining the lowerlimit α min of chemical feed rate %, when the chemical feed rate αbecomes equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate %.

Note that, the ratio setter 93 may be set

4. to increase the chemical feed rate α of flocculant stepwise and tosend a warning signal out, while maintaining the state of the chemicalfeed rate α of flocculant being the upper limit α max of chemical feedrate %, when it becomes equal to the upper limit α max of chemical feedrate %.

[2. A Sludge Thickening Method in a Sludge Thickener]

[1] About operational factors set in the sludge thickening method In thesludge thickening method according to the present invention, thechemical feed rate α of flocculant, the rotational speed S of the screw39, and the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 were setas operational factors in sludge thickening. First, relationshipsbetween the respective operational factors, thickened sludgeconcentration X %, and SS recovery rate (%) of sludge are described.

1. Chemical feed rate α: Influence of the chemical feed rate α offlocculant on thickened sludge concentration X % and SS recovery rate(%) of sludge was examined. In FIG. 13, chemical feed rate α (% TS) areshown on the horizontal axis, and thickened sludge concentration X % andSS recovery rate (%) of sludge are shown on the vertical axis. Aschemical feed rate α increases, both thickened sludge concentration X %and SS recovery rate (%) of sludge increase. However, when chemical feedrate α is too high, a reverse effect may be occurred.

2. Rotational speed S of the screw 39: Influence of the rotational speedS of the screw 39 on thickened sludge concentration X % and SS recoveryrate (%) of sludge was examined. In FIG. 14, rotational speed S (min⁻¹)of the screw 39 is shown on the horizontal axis, and thickened sludgeconcentration X % and SS recovery rate (%) of sludge are shown on thevertical axis. When rotational speed S of the screw 39 increases,thickened sludge concentration X % decreases. There is little influenceon the recovery rate.

3. Rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21: Influence of therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 on thickened sludgeconcentration X and SS recovery rate (%) of sludge was examined. In FIG.15, rotational speed C (min⁻¹) of the outer cylinder screen 21 is shownon the horizontal axis, and thickened sludge concentration X % and SSrecovery rate (%) of sludge are shown on the vertical axis. When therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 is not less than acertain value, there is tendency that thickened sludge concentration Xslowly increases, while SS recovery rate (%) of sludge decreases byincreasing rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21.

Note that, the thickened sludge concentration X % may be one detected bythe thickened sludge concentration detector 81, or may be one calculatedby the following method.

The thickened sludge concentration X of thickened sludge can beapproximately calculated with,X=(Qs×Ts)/(Qs+Qp+Qw−Qf)

where Ts=concentration of raw slurry sludge, Qs=amount of feed rawslurry, Qp=amount of feed flocculant, Qf=amount of separate liquid,Qc=amount of thickened sludge, Qw=amount of cleaning liquid.

In this case, the control section 92 is set to calculate thickenedsludge concentration X using the values of Ts, Qs, Qp, Qf, Qc, and Qw.

[2] Method of Thickening Sludge

Next, a method of thickening sludge is briefly described.

(1) When thickened sludge concentration X varies beyond setting range (alower limit, an upper limit), the method is described in the followingbased on the relationship between the respective operational factors andthe thickened sludge concentration X.

1. By following the order of priority shown in Table 3, the respectiveoperational factors for the chemical feed rate α% of flocculant, therotational speed S of the screw 39, and the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 are controlled in sequence.

2. Even when the respective factors become limit values within settingranges, if the thickened sludge concentration X does not fall within asetting range, an operational factor to be operated is changed accordingto the order of priority.

3. By narrowing the setting range of the rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen 21, so that the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 may be put out of the control targets, whereby only thechemical feed rate α and the rotational speed S of the screw 39 may beto be as control targets.

4. To increase response rate of the thickened sludge concentration X,the rotational speed S of the screw 39 and the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 may be simultaneously increased/decreasedaccording to a predetermined method.

5. When increasing/decreasing the rotational speed S of the screw 39 andthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21, simultaneously,a summation of the rotational speed S of the screw 39 and the rotationalspeed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 may be maintained to beconstant.

6. While the setting range of the thickened sludge concentration X andthe setting ranges of the respective operational factors are retained asstandard values, settings are reevaluated for target sludge ofrespective disposal stations.

TABLE 3 START CONTROLLING WHEN VARIED OPERATIONAL ORDER OF ORDER OFABOVE SETTING FACTORS X > X max PRIORITY X < X min PRIORITY RANGECHEMICAL FEED RATE

1

3 STEPWISE CONTROL WITHIN SETTING RANGE SCREW

2

1 STEPWISE CONTROL WITHIN SETTING RANGE SCREEN

3

2 STEPWISE CONTROL WITHIN SETTING RANGE

(2) A method may be adopted of thickening sludge using optimalrotational speeds Sso and Cso of the screw 39 and the outer cylinderscreen 21, respectively, which are set in advance, when the thickenedsludge concentration X is within a setting range (a lower limit, anupper limit) or when operation of a sludge thickener is started, theoptimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso corresponding to the thickenedsludge concentration X and an amount of feed raw slurry Qs.

Furthermore, the sludge thickening method is described in detail.

First, a certain amount of raw slurry in which flocculant of a chemicalfeed rate α is added is fed into the differential rate rotary thickener80, and filtered liquid is separated and thickened sludge of a thickenedsludge concentration X is discharged, while rotating the outer cylinderscreen 21 and the screw 39 in directions opposite to each other atrotational speeds C, S, respectively. A sludge thickener is started tobe controlled so that the thickened sludge concentration X based on theproperty of raw slurry sludge and the fluctuation in an amount of feedraw slurry sludge, falls into the range of a lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration % and an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration % including the lower limit X min % andthe upper limit X max %. The thickened sludge concentration X isdetected for every predetermined period of time (for example, 5 min.) aspower using the power detector 87, and the power value thus detected isthus sent in the form of an electric signal to the discriminator 91. Thediscriminator 91 calculates the thickened sludge concentration X usingthe electric signal sent from the power detector 87, and performs acomparison operation with the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration % and the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration %. As a result of the comparison operation, sludgethickening is performed according to one of [1] below when X>X max or[2] below when X<X min. When X min≦X≦X max, the present condition isretained or sludge is thickened according to the method of [3] below. Inaddition, a sludge thickening method at a time when an operation isstarted, with the thickened sludge concentration X not being detected,is described in [4] below.

[1] When the thickened sludge concentration X is increased above anupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %;

[2] When the thickened sludge concentration X is decreased below a lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration %; and

[3] When the thickened sludge concentration X is not less than a lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration % and not greater thanan upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %.

[4] At a time when the operation of a sludge thickener is started.

[1] When the Thickened Sludge Concentration X is Increased Above anUpper Limit X Max of the Thickened Sludge Concentration %

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a method of maintaining a thickenedsludge concentration X of a sledge thickener to be constant. Referringto FIG. 10, a procedure of (a) to (j) is described.

(a) When the thickened sludge concentration X is increased above anupper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %, aninstruction signal is sent from the discriminator 91 to the ratio setter93, and consequently an instruction signal for decreasing the chemicalfeed rate α of flocculant is sent from the ratio setter 93 to the secondcontroller 94.

(b) The second controller 94 controls the flocculant feed pump 97 tothereby decrease the chemical feed rate α of flocculant by a chemicalfeed rate d % (d=0.01 to 0.03%).

(c) When the thickened sludge concentration X after a predeterminedperiod of time (for example, 5 min.) is still higher than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %, the operation isrepeatedly performed until the thickened sludge concentration X becomesnot greater than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration % to decrease the chemical feed rate α of flocculantstepwise.

(d) When the chemical feed rate α of flocculant becomes a lower limit αmin of chemical feed rate %, information that the chemical feed rate αof flocculant has become equal to the lower limit α min of chemical feedrate % is sent back from the ratio setter 93 to the discriminator 91,while retaining the lower limit α min of chemical feed rate %.

(e) Based on the information from the ratio setter 93 that the chemicalfeed rate α of flocculant has become equal to the lower limit α min ofchemical feed rate %, when the thickened sludge concentration X ishigher than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration%, an instruction signal for increasing the rotational speed S of thescrew 39 is sent from the discriminator 91 to the first controller 92.

(f) The first controller 92 operates a screw driving machine 85 tothereby increase the rotational speed S of the screw 39 by anincrement/decrement rotational speed a (a=1 to 2 min⁻¹).

(g) When the thickened sludge concentration X after a predeterminedperiod of time (for example, 5 min.) is still higher than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %, an instructionsignal based on the information that is sent from the discriminator 91to the first controller 92, and this operation is repeatedly performeduntil the thickened sludge concentration X becomes less than or equal tothe upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentration % to therebyincrease the rotational speed S of the screw 39 stepwise.

(h) When the rotational speed S of the screw 39 has become equal to anupper limit S max of the rotational speed, if the thickened sludgeconcentration X is higher than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration %, an instruction signal for decreasing therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 is sent from thediscriminator 91 to the first controller 92, while retaining the upperlimit S max of the rotational speed.

(i) The first controller 92 operates an outer cylinder driving machine86 to thereby decrease the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 by an increment/decrement rotational speed b (b=1 to 2 min⁻¹).This operation is repeatedly performed until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes not greater than the upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration %, or until the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 is decreased to the lower limit C min of therotational speed.

(j) When the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 isdecreased to the lower limit C min of the rotational speed, anabnormality warning is sent out and a program is modified, whileretaining a state in the lower limit C min of the rotational speed.

According to the above method in response to the fluctuation of thethickened sludge concentration X, an order of priority is determined forthe three operational factors of the chemical feed rate, the rotationalspeed S of the screw 39, and the rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen 21, and these factors are thereafter varied stepwise,whereby the thickened sludge concentration X can be maintained to beconstant, and an amount of chemicals can be decreased depending on thevariation of sludge property. Furthermore, since the sludgeconcentration of thickened sludge becomes stable, a management ofprocess operation after thickening is facilitated.

First Modified Example of First Embodiment

In addition, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, in the abovedescribed step [1]-(e), the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 may also be increased/decreased along with the rotationalspeed S of the screw 39. To be more precise, an instruction signal forsimultaneously rotating the screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen 21 issent from the discriminator 91 to the first controller 92. When thefirst controller 92 receives the above instruction signal, the firstcontroller 92 simultaneously operates the screw driving machine 85 andthe outer cylinder driving machine 86 so that the rotational speed S ofthe screw 39 is increased by an increment/decrement rotational speed a(a=1 to 2 min⁻¹), and the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 is decreased by the increment/decrement rotational speed b(b=1 to 2 min⁻¹). This operation is repeatedly performed until thethickened sludge concentration X becomes less than or equal to the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration %; until therotational speed S of the screw 39 becomes equal to the upper limit Smax of the rotational speed; or until the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 becomes equal to the lower limit C min of therotational speed.

According to this method, response rates of the screw 39 and the outercylinder screen 21 in response to the thickened sludge concentration Xcan be increased.

Moreover, when a summation (a+(−b)=0) of an increment/decrementrotational speed a of the screw 39 and an increment/decrement rotationalspeed b of the outer cylinder screen 21 to be increased/decreasedstepwise at a time is set to be fixed, control is simplified.

[2] When the Thickened Sludge Concentration X is Decreased Below theLower Limit X Min of the Thickened Sludge Concentration %

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method of maintaining a thickened sludgeconcentration X in a sludge thickener to be constant. Referring to FIG.10, a procedure of (a) to (g) is described.

(a) When the thickened sludge concentration X is decreased below a lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, an instruction signalfor decreasing the rotational speed S of the screw 39 is sent from thediscriminator 91 to the first controller 92.

(b) The first controller 92 operates the screw driving machine 85 todecrease the rotational speed S of the screw 39 by anincrement/decrement rotational speed a (a=1 to 2 min⁻¹). This operationis repeatedly performed until the thickened sludge concentration Xbecomes not less than or equal to the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, or until the rotational speed S of the screw 39becomes equal to the lower limit S min to decrease the rotational speedS of the screw 39 stepwise.

(c) When the rotational speed S of the screw 39 becomes equal to thelower limit S min, if the thickened sludge concentration X is lower thanthe upper limit of thickened sludge concentration X min, an instructionsignal for increasing the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 is sent from the discriminator 91 to the first controller 92,while retaining the lower limit S min of the rotational speed.

(d) The first controller 92 operates the outer cylinder driving machine86 to thereby increase the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 by an increment/decrement rotational speed b (b=1 to 2 min⁻¹).This operation is repeatedly performed until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes greater than or equal to the lower limit X minof the thickened sludge concentration, or until the rotational speed Cof the outer cylinder screen 21 becomes equal to the upper limit C maxof the rotational speed.

(e) When the thickened sludge concentration X is lower than the lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration and when therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 becomes equal to theupper limit C max of the rotational speed, information that therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 becomes equal to theupper limit C max of the rotational speed is sent from the discriminator91 to the ratio setter 93, and an instruction signal for increasing thechemical feed rate α of flocculant is sent from the ratio setter 93 tothe second controller 94.

(f) The second controller 94 controls the flocculant-feeding pump 97 tothereby increase the chemical feed rate α of flocculant by a chemicalfeed rate d (d=0.01 to 0.03%). This operation is repeatedly performedstepwise until the thickened sludge concentration X becomes greater thanor equal to the lower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration,or until the chemical feed rate α of flocculant becomes equal to theupper limit α max of chemical feed rate %.

(g) When the chemical feed rate α of flocculant becomes equal to theupper limit α max of chemical feed rate %, an abnormality warning issent out and a program is modified, while retaining a state in the upperlimit α max of chemical feed rate %.

According to the above method, an order of priority is determined forthe three operational factors of the chemical feed rate α of flocculant,the rotational speed S of the screw 39, and the rotational speed C ofthe pouter cylinder screen 21 to be thereafter varied stepwise, inresponse to the fluctuations of the thickened sludge concentration X,whereby the thickened sludge concentration X can be maintained to beconstant, and an amount of chemicals can be reduced in response to thevariation of sludge property. Moreover, since the sludge concentrationof thickened sludge becomes stable, a management of process operationafter thickening is facilitated.

(Second Modified Example of First Embodiment)

Moreover, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, in the above describedstep [2]-(a), the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 mayalso be increased/decreased along with the rotational speed S of thescrew 39. To be more precise, an instruction signal for simultaneouslyrotating the screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen 21 is sent from thediscriminator 91 to the first controller 92. The first controller 92,which has received the above instruction signal, simultaneously operatesthe screw driving machine 85 and the outer cylinder driving machine sothat the rotational speed S of the screw 39 is decreased by anincrement/decrement rotational speed a (a=1 to 2 min⁻¹), and therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 is increased by anincrement/decrement rotational speed b (b=1 to 2 min⁻¹). This operationis repeatedly performed until the thickened sludge concentration Xbecomes greater than or equal to the lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration; until the rotational speed S of the screw 39becomes equal to the lower limit S min of the rotational speed; or untilthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 becomes equal tothe upper limit C max of the rotational speed. When the rotational speedS of the screw 39 has become equal to the lower limit S min of therotational speed, or the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen21 has become equal to the upper limit C max of the rotational speed,the above information is sent from the discriminator 91 to the ratiosetter 93, and an instruction signal for increasing the chemical feedrate α of flocculant is sent from the ratio setter 93 to the secondcontroller 94.

According to this method, response rates of the screw 39 and the outercylinder screen 21 in response to the thickened sludge concentration Xcan be increased.

Moreover, when a summation (a+(−b)=0) of an increment/decrementrotational speed a of the screw 39 and an increment/decrement rotationalspeed b of the outer cylinder screen 21 to be increased/decreasedstepwise at a time is set to be fixed, control is simplified.

[3] When the Thickened Sludge Concentration X is not Less than the LowerLimit X Min of the Thickened Sludge Concentration % and not Greater thanthe Upper Limit X Max of the Thickened Sludge Concentration %

When an amount of raw slurry Qs fluctuates, the following sludgethickening method may be adopted.

First, rotational speeds of the screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen21 to be adopted for sludge thickening are described.

By using sewage sludge having a raw slurry concentration of 0.6% for thedifferential rate rotary thickener 80, optimal rotational speeds Sso,Cso of the screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen 21, respectively,which rotate in directions opposite to each other at different speedsfrom each other were calculated. Set values of the optimal rotationalspeeds Sso, Cso in response to an amount of raw slurry Qs areempirically found out, and one half of an amount of feed raw slurrysludge is appropriate for a conveying speed by the rotation of the screw39. There is a problem for the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen 21 with respect to how often a fresh filtration surface isrecovered, and the same idea as that used for the number of times ofcleaning in response to the amount of raw slurry Qs was applied. For aprocess of 10 m³/m²/h, cleaning needs the speed of 15 rpm, and therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 was also set to beincreased in multiples of 15 in proportion to the amount of process. Theoptimal rotational speeds Sso, Cso of the screw 39 and the outercylinder screen 21, respectively, for the amount of process raw slurryare shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 OPTIMAL AMOUNT OF OPTIMAL ROTATIONAL SPEED THICKENING PROCESSRAW ROTATIONAL SPEED OF OUTER SYLINDER MULTIPLYING SLURRY OF SCREWSCREEN FACTOR 10 m³/m²/h 5 rpm −15 rpm 8-10 TIMES  15 m³/m²/h 7.5 rpm−22 rpm 6-8 TIMES 22 m³/m²/h 10 rpm −30 rpm 5-6 TIMES

Table 4 shows an operational example in which excess sewage sludgehaving a raw slurry concentration of 0.6% is thickened by a differentialrate thickener having the outer cylinder screen 21 with an innerdiameter F of 300 mm.

Relational expressions of the optimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso ofthe screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen 21, respectively, for eachamount of feed sludge obtained from Table 4 are given as follows.Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw 39=0.5×Process speed of rawslurry (m³/m²/h)Optimal rotational speed Cso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen21=1.5×Process speed for raw slurry (m³/m²/h)Accordingly, standard calculation expressions are as follows.Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw 39=Rotational factorS1×Process speed for raw slurry (m³/m²/h)Optimal rotational speed Cso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen21=Rotational factor C1×Process speed for raw slurry (m³/m²/h)

Accordingly, based on the above data analysis, once the rotationalfactors S1 and C1 are determined, a program can be easily written. Forsewage sludge having a raw slurry concentration of 0.6%, S1=0.5 andC1=1.5 are preferable. However, for sludge having poor filtrationcharacteristics and poor thickening property, or in a differential raterotary thickener 80 of large size, values of S1 and C1 are smaller thanthe above. As described above, the values of the rotational factors S1and C1 are set depending on the property of raw slurry sludge.Additionally, standard relational expressions of the optimal rotationalspeed Sso of the screw 39 and the optimal rotational speed Cso of theouter cylinder screen 21 in response to the amount of feed raw slurry Qsare stored in the discriminator 91 in advance along with the rotationalfactors S1 and C1 obtained depending on the property of raw slurrysludge.

Next, a procedure for a sludge thickening method is described in (a) to(c) as follows.

(a) Although an amount of feed raw slurry Qs is constant in a usualoperation, when the amount of feed raw slurry Qs is changed for somereason while operating, the amount of feed raw slurry Qs is detectedwith the flowmeter 98 and a detection signal is sent to thediscriminator 91.

(b) The discriminator 91 receives the detection signal, and the optimalrotational speed Sso of the screw and the optimal rotational speed Csoof the outer cylinder screen 21 are calculated from the relationalexpressions to thereafter send an instruction signal to the firstcontroller 92.

(c) The first controller 92 operates the screw driving machine 85 andthe outer cylinder driving machine 86 to vary the rotational speed S ofthe screw 39 and the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21to the optimal rotational speeds Sso, Cso, respectively.

According to the above method, even if an amount of feed raw slurry Qsfluctuates, since the screw 39 and the outer cylinder screen 21 arerespectively rotated at optimal rotational speeds for thickening thefeed raw slurry Qs, sludge thickening can be operated at high thickeningefficiency.

[4] At a Time when Starting to Operate a Sludge Thickener

The following sludge thickening method may be adopted.

At a time when starting to operate a sludge thickener, the screw 39 andthe outer cylinder screen 21 are rotated at an optimal rotational speedSso of the screw and an optimal rotational speed Cso of the outercylinder screen 21, respectively, as described in [3] above.

According to the above method, since the sludge thickener can start tobe operated from the state with high thickening efficiency, therotational speed S of the screw 39 and the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 need not be set on an individual case-by-casebasis in response to the property of raw slurry when starting theoperation.

Second Embodiment

Although a sludge thickener of a second embodiment has the sameconstitution as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a controlprogram to be installed in the discriminator 91 is different. When thecontrol program is different, a sludge thickening method is alsodifferent. Since the other constitution and operation are the same asthose in the first embodiment, descriptions of the same parts areomitted. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals andsymbols are given to corresponding components.

A control program to be installed in the discriminator 91 is described.

Sequential electrical signals of 4 to 20 mA outputted from the powerdetector 87 are to be sent to the discriminator 91. A sliding resistanceof the detecting body 90 to desired thickened sludge, which has beenthickened by the differential rate rotary thickener 80, is calculated inadvance as a stable current value of the driving motor 89 to set therates of upper and lower limits in an allowable range. The stablecurrent value and the rates of upper and lower limits are inputted inadvance in the discriminator 91.

Next, a procedure for a sludge thickening method is described in (a) to(g) as follows.

(a) Based on sequential electrical signals to be inputted from the powerdetector 87 to the discriminator 91, mean electrical value is calculatedfor every given period of time.

(b) Further arithmetic on the mean values are repeatedly performedseveral times to obtain a mean value thereof; and a comparison operationis performed on the mean electrical value thus obtained, and the rate ofan upper limit and the rate of a lower limit for a stable current valueduring operation which has been set in advance.

(c) if the mean electrical value is continuously lower than the rate ofthe lower limit of the stable electrical value, the rotational speed Sof the screw 39 is decreased by the predetermined amount of rotationalspeed.

(d) The above operation is repeatedly performed, and when the meanelectrical value falls within the allowable range for the stableelectrical value, the rotational speed of the screw 39 is maintained.

(e) Additionally, if the mean electrical value is continuously increasedabove the rate of the upper limit for the stable electrical value, therotational speed S of the screw 39 is increased by a predeterminedamount of rotational speed.

(f) The above operation is repeatedly performed, and when the meanelectrical value falls within the allowable range for the stableelectrical value, the rotational speed of the screw 39 is maintained.

(g) When the successive mean electrical values detected are out of therange of the rates of upper and lower limits for the stable currentvalue even if the rotational speed S of the screw 39 is controlled, aninstruction signal is sent from the discriminator 91 to theflocculant-feeding pump 97. When the mean electrical values are lowerthan the rate of the lower limit for the stable electrical value, thechemical feed rate α of flocculant is increased; and when the meanelectrical value becomes higher than the rate of an upper limit for astable electrical value, the chemical feed rate α of flocculant isdecreased, so that the chemical feed rate α of flocculant isautomatically adjusted in response to the fluctuation of sludgeproperty.

As described above, in the sludge thickener and the sludge thickeningmethod of the second embodiment, with the amount of feed raw slurry Qsmaintained to be constant, a rotational control of the screw 39 isperformed as describe above. However, when the amount of feed raw slurryQs fluctuates, if the rotational speed C of the screw 39 and the outercylinder screen 21, respectively, as initial settings areincreased/decreased in proportion to the amount of feed raw slurry Qs,an optimal operation is achieved. When the property of sludge is variedto a large extent and the amount of feed raw slurry Qs also needs to bevaried, the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 may bevaried in proportion to the amount of feed raw slurry Qs to therebycontrol the rotational speed. The reason why the rotational speed of thescrew 39 is first controlled is that response in the sludgeconcentration to be thickened is directly appeared. This is becausechemical feed rate needs time for a reaction between sludge andflocculant and thus time is required for an appropriate response.According to this procedure, chemical feed rate can be reduced and thusa minimum flocculant addition becomes possible.

Hereinafter, a more precise description is given.

FIG. 16 shows a relationship between the rotational speed S of the screw39 and thickened sludge concentration, with the rotational speed S (rpm)of the screw 39 on the horizontal axis and with thickened sludgeconcentration % on the vertical axis. An operational condition for thedifferential rate rotary thickener 80 is that a predetermined amount ofsludge is processed while maintaining the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 to be constant. In this example, if therotational speed S of the screw 39 is increased to 5, 10 and 15 rpm, thethickened sludge concentration is approximately 4.7, 4.0 and 3.5%,respectively. That is, an influence of rotation of the screw 39 onsludge concentration is that, when the rotational speed S is increased,a retaining period of sludge inside the outer cylinder screen 21 becomesshorter and thickened sludge concentration is decreased. On the otherhand, when the rotational speed S of the screw 39 is decreased, aretaining period of sludge inside the outer cylinder screen 21 becomeslonger, which expresses that thickened sludge concentration isincreased.

FIG. 17 shows a relationship between chemical feed rate α and thickenedsludge concentration X, with chemical feed rate a on the horizontal axisand with thickened sludge concentration X on the vertical axis. Anoperational condition for the differential rate rotary thickener 80 isthat a predetermined amount of sludge is processed while maintaining therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 to be constant. Inthis example, when the chemical feed rate for sludge is increased to0.2, 0.3 and 0.4, the thickened sludge concentration X is approximately2, 4 and 5%, respectively. An influence of change of the chemical feedrate on sludge concentration is that, when the chemical feed rate isincreased, the thickened sludge concentration is also increased. On theother hand, when the chemical feed rate is decreased, the thickenedsludge concentration is also decreased. In this example, if a standardsludge concentration, which gives a stable electrical value, is 4%, astandard chemical feed rate is set to 0.3%. In addition, the chemicalfeed rate α of flocculant is increased/decreased by 0.01% at a time.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a control method of the differential raterotary thickener 80. A comparison operation is performed on a meanelectrical value sent from the power detector 87 to the discriminator91, and a stable electrical value already set. Thereafter, arithmeticare performed to figure out whether or not mean concentration valuesmeasured every five minutes are successively decreased for thepredetermined number of times (about 3 times). When the thickened sludgeconcentration X is 0.1% or more lower than the standard sludgeconcentration of 4%, the rotational speed S of the screw 39 is decreasedfrom 10 rpm by 1 rpm. The property of sludge constantly changing issometimes recovered by itself, and sequential electrical signals fromthe power detector 87 are measured every 5 minutes. Measured again after5 minutes, if the thickened sludge concentration is still 0.1% or morelower than the standard sludge concentration of 4%, the rotational speedS of the screw 39 is further decreased by 1 rpm. This operation isrepeated several times until the concentration becomes 3.5% or less.When an operation of the rotational speed S of the screw 39 causes theconcentration to be 3.5% or less, the chemical feed rate is increasedfrom 0.3% to 0.31% and the signal is measured again after 5 minutes.This operation is repeated, and when the measured mean sludgeconcentration falls within an allowable range, the rotational speed S ofthe screw 39 of the differential rate rotary thickener 80 is maintained.

Arithmetic performed to figure out whether or not mean concentrationvalues measured every five minutes are successively decreased for thepredetermined number of times in the discriminator 91. When thethickened sludge concentration is 0.1% or more higher than the standardsludge concentration of 4%, the rotational speed S of the screw 39 isincreased from 10 rpm by 1 rpm, and measurement is again made after 5minutes. If the concentration is still 0.1% or more higher than thestandard sludge concentration of 4%, the rotational speed S of the screwis further increased by 1 rpm, and the operation is repeatedly performedseveral times until the concentration becomes 4.5% or less. When theconcentration is not decreased to 4.5% or less even if the rotationalspeed S of the screw 39 is controlled, the chemical feed rate isdecreased from 0.3% to 0.29%, and measurement is again made after 5minutes. This operation is repeatedly performed, and when the measuredmean sludge concentration falls within the allowable range, therotational speed S of the screw 39 of the differential rate rotarythickener 80 is maintained.

Note that, in this example, a current value, which was measured by thepower detector 87 when the standard sludge concentration was set to 4%and the standard rotational speed of the screw 39 was set to 10 rpm, wasset as the stable current value. Measurements were made every 5 minutesin response to the fluctuations of the thickened sludge concentration X;an increment/decrement of the rotational speed S of the screw 39 was setat 1 rpm; and an increment/decrement rate of the chemical feed rate α offlocculant was set at 0.01%. The values of the rotational speed S of thescrew 39 and the chemical feed rate α of flocculant can be arbitrarilyset depending on the property of sludge, an amount of feed sledge, andthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the sludge thickener and the sludge thickening method ofthe present invention, the concentration of thickened sludge dischargedfrom the differential rate rotary thickener 80 is measured, and,depending on the concentration of the thickened sludge, the rate ofaddition of flocculant, and the rotational speed S of the screw 39 andthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21, respectively,rotating in directions opposite to each other are controlled stepwise tothereby prevent excessive loads from being applied on the screw 39 andthe outer cylinder screen 21, so that sludge concentration afterthickening can be maintained to be constant. The concentration ofthickened sludge discharged from the differential rate rotary thickener80 is measured, and, depending on the concentration of the thickenedsludge, the rate of addition of flocculant, and the rotational speed Sof the screw 39 and the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen21, respectively, rotating in directions opposite to each other arecontrolled stepwise with an order of priority so that an amount of usedchemicals of flocculant can be controlled to ensure minimum and sludgeconcentration after thickening can be maintained to be constant. Sincethe sludge concentration after thickening is stable, a management ofprocess operation after thickening becomes simple.

When an amount of feed raw slurry sludge varies, the most appropriaterotational speed S of the screw 39 and the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen 21 in response to the amount of raw slurry Qs thusfed are set to thereafter control the differential rate rotary thickener80, an operation with an effective thickening can be performed even ifthe amount of feed raw slurry sludge Qs varies.

Furthermore, according to the sludge thickener and the sludge thickeningmethod of the present invention, since the outer diameter f of thecylindrical center axle 41 of the screw 39 in the differential raterotary thickener 80 is set to 40% to 65% of the inner diameter F of theouter cylinder screen 21, sludge thickening can be performed at highthickening efficiency. In addition, as the number of the screw vane 43,one of a single-, a double-, a triple-thread types is set to bedepending on the property of raw slurry of sludge, a target thickeningconcentration, and the like, sludge thickening can be performed at highthickening efficiency. Accordingly, since sludge thickening can beefficiently operated, a process requiring high thickened sludgeconcentration can be dealt with.

Moreover, according to the sludge thickener and the sludge thickeningmethod of the present invention, the detecting body 90 of theconcentration detector which is disposed in sludge after thickening isformed in cylindrical shape, which is hardly influenced by fluctuationof flow. Therefore, little data dispersion is generated in sludgeconcentrations after thickening even for sludge having poor filtrationcharacteristics such as excess activated sludge or the like in additionto sewage mixed sludge or sewage primary sludge having comparativelyfavorable filtration characteristics. Based on such sludge concentrationdata after thickening, the rotational speed S of the screw 39 and therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen 21 in the differentialrate rotary thickener 80, and the rate of addition of flocculant arecontrolled so that fluctuation in sludge concentration after thickeningis small in the sludge thickener and the sludge thickening method.Accordingly, since the sludge concentration after thickening is stable,a management of process operation after thickening is facilitated. Arotary thickener can be achieved, which is adaptable for process ofsludge such as excess activated sludge or the like having poorfiltration characteristics in addition to sewage mixed sludge or sewageprimary sludge having comparatively favorable filtrationcharacteristics.

1. A sludge thickening method of a differential rotation rate rotarythickener in which a screw is disposed in a rotatable outer cylinderscreen; a flocculant is fed to a raw slurry at a chemical feed rate a toform a raw slurry sludge; the raw slurry sludge is fed into a feed endof the outer cylinder screen; filtered liquid is separated from theouter cylinder screen with rotating the screw at a variable speed; andthereafter a thickened sludge of a thickened sludge concentration isdischarged from a discharge end of the outer cylinder screen, the sludgethickening method comprising: setting in advance an upper limit of thechemical feed rate a max of the flocculant, a lower limit a min of thechemical feed rate of the flocculant, an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit C max of a rotational speed of theouter cylinder screen, a lower limit C min of the rotational speed ofthe outer cylinder screen, an upper limit S max of a rotational speed ofthe screw, and a lower limit S min of the rotational speed of the screw;when a thickened sludge concentration X of the thickened sludge, whichis discharged from the differential rotation rate rotary thickener, hasbeen increased to not less than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration, decreasing a chemical feed rate α of theflocculant stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration X becomesnot greater than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until the chemical feed rate α of the flocculantbecomes equal to the lower limit a min of the chemical feed rate of theflocculant; and, when the flocculant has become equal to the lower limitα min of the chemical feed rate, increasing a rotational speed S of thescrew stepwise; and when the thickened sludge concentration X of thethickened sludge, which is discharged from the differential rotationrate rotary thickener, has been decreased to not greater than the lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, decreasing therotational speed S of the screw stepwise until the thickened sludgeconcentration X becomes not less than the lower limit X min of thethickened sludge concentration or until the rotational speed S of thescrew becomes equal to the lower limit S min of the rotational speed;and, when the rotational speed S of the screw has become equal to thelower limit S min of the rotational speed, increasing the chemical feedrate α of the flocculant stepwise.
 2. The sludge thickening method of adifferential rotation rate rotary thickener according to claim 1,wherein the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen and therotational speed S of the screw, which are set in advance, are definedby the following relational expressions, which are derived by settingoptimal rotational speeds Sso, Cso of the screw and the outer cylinderscreen, respectively, depending on a fluctuating amount of feed rawslurry Qs,Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw=Rotational factor S1×Processspeed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); andOptimal rotational speed Cso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen=Rotationalfactor C1×Process speed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); and a screw drivingmachine and an outer cylinder driving machine are controlled based onthe optimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso of the screw and the outercylinder screen, respectively, at a time when starting to operate thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener and when the thickenedsludge concentration X of thickened sludge, which is discharged from thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener, is lower than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration and higher than thelower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration.
 3. A sludgethickening method of a differential rotation rate rotary thickener inwhich a screw is disposed in a rotatable outer cylinder screen; aflocculant is fed to a raw slurry at a chemical feed rate a to form araw slurry sludge; the raw slurry sludge is fed into a feed end of theouter cylinder screen; filtered liquid is separated from the outercylinder screen with rotating the screw at a variable speed; andthereafter a thickened sludge of a thickened sludge concentration isdischarged from a discharge end of the outer cylinder screen, the sludgethickening method comprising: setting in advance an upper limit α max ofthe chemical feed rate of the flocculant, a lower limit a min of thechemical feed rate of the flocculant, an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit C max of a rotational speed of theouter cylinder screen, a lower limit C min of the rotational speed ofthe outer cylinder screen, an upper limit S max of a rotational speed ofthe screw, and a lower limit S min of the rotational speed of the screw;when a thickened sludge concentration X of the thickened sludge, whichis discharged from the differential rotation rate rotary thickener, hasbeen increased to not less than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration, decreasing a chemical feed rate α of theflocculant stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration becomes notgreater than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludge concentrationor until the chemical feed rate of the flocculant becomes equal to thelower limit a min of chemical feed rate of the flocculant; and, when thechemical feed rate α of the flocculant has become equal to the lowerlimit of chemical feed rate α min, increasing a rotational speed S ofthe screw stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration X becomesnot greater than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until the rotational speed S of the screw becomes equalto the upper limit S max of the rotational speed; when the rotationalspeed S of the screw has become equal to the upper limit S max of therotational speed, decreasing a rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen stepwise and repeating this operation; when the thickened sludgeconcentration X of the thickened sludge, which is discharged from thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener, has been decreased to notgreater than the lower limit X min of the thickened sludgeconcentration, decreasing the rotational speed S of the screw stepwiseuntil the thickened sludge concentration X becomes not less than thelower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration or until therotational speed S of the screw becomes equal to the lower limit S minof the rotational speed; and when the rotational speed S of the screwhas become equal to the lower limit S min of the rotational speed,increasing the rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen stepwiseuntil the thickened sludge concentration X becomes not less than thelower limit of rotational speed X min or until the rotational speed C ofthe outer cylinder screen becomes equal to the upper limit C max of therotational speed; and, when the rotational speed C of the outer cylinderscreen has become equal to the upper limit C max of the rotationalspeed, increasing the chemical feed rate α of the flocculant.
 4. Thesludge thickening method of a differential rotation rate rotarythickener according to claim 3, wherein the rotational speed C of theouter cylinder screen and the rotational speed S of the screw, which areset in advance, are defined by the following relational expressions,which are derived by setting optimal rotational speeds Sso, Cso of thescrew and the outer cylinder screen, respectively, depending on afluctuating amount of feed raw slurry Qs,Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw=Rotational factor S1×Processspeed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); andOptimal rotational speed Cso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen=Rotationalfactor C1×Process speed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); and a screw drivingmachine and a outer cylinder driving machine are controlled based on theoptimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso of the screw and the outercylinder screen, respectively, at a time when starting to operate thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener and when the thickenedsludge concentration X of thickened sludge, which is discharged from thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener, is lower than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration and higher than thelower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration.
 5. A sludgethickening method of a differential rotation rate rotary thickener inwhich a screw is disposed in a rotatable outer cylinder screen; aflocculant is fed to a raw slurry at a chemical feed rate α to form araw slurry sludge; the raw slurry sludge is fed into a feed end of theouter cylinder screen; filtered liquid is separated from the outercylinder screen with rotating the screw at a variable speed; andthereafter a thickened sludge of a thickened sludge concentration isdischarged from a discharge end of the outer cylinder screen, the sludgethickening method comprising: setting in advance an upper limit of thechemical feed rate a max of the flocculant, a lower limit α min of thechemical feed rate of the flocculant, an upper limit X max of thethickened sludge concentration, a lower limit X min of the thickenedsludge concentration, an upper limit C max of a rotational speed of theouter cylinder screen, a lower limit C min of the rotational speed ofthe outer cylinder screen, an upper limit S max of a rotational speed ofthe screw, and a lower limit S min of the rotational speed of the screw;when a thickened sludge concentration X of the thickened sludge, whichis discharged from the differential rotation rate rotary thickener, hasbeen increased to not less than the upper limit X max of the thickenedsludge concentration, decreasing a chemical feed rate α of theflocculant stepwise until the thickened sludge concentration X becomesnot greater than the upper limit X max of the thickened sludgeconcentration or until the flocculant becomes equal to the lower limit αmin of chemical feed rate of the flocculant; when the flocculant hasbecome equal to the chemical feed rate α min of the flocculant,increasing the rotational speed S of the screw stepwise andsimultaneously decreasing stepwise the rotational speed C of the outercylinder screen; when the thickened sludge concentration X of thethickened sludge, which is discharged from the differential rotationrate rotary thickener, has been decreased to not greater than the lowerlimit X min of the thickened sludge concentration, decreasing therotational speed S of the screw stepwise, and simultaneously increasingthe rotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen stepwise, until thethickened sludge concentration X becomes not less than the lower limit Xmin of the thickened sludge concentration, or until the rotational speedC of the outer cylinder screen becomes equal to the upper limit ofrotation C max, or until the rotational speed S of the screw becomesequal to the lower limit S min of the rotational speed; and when therotational speed C of the outer cylinder screen has become equal to theupper limit of rotation C max or the rotational speed S of the screw hasbecome equal to the lower limit S min of the rotational speed,increasing the chemical feed rate a of the flocculant stepwise.
 6. Thesludge thickening method of a differential rotation rate rotarythickener according to claim 5, wherein the sum of anincrement/decrement rotational speed a of the screw and anincrement/decrement rotational speed b of the outer cylinder screen,both rotational speeds simultaneously increasing/decreasing, is set tobe constant.
 7. The sludge thickening method of a differential rotationrate rotary thickener according to claim 5, wherein the rotational speedC of the outer cylinder screen and the rotational speed S of the screw,which are set in advance, are defined by the following relationalexpressions, which are derived by setting optimal rotational speeds Sso,Cso of the screw and the outer cylinder screen, respectively, dependingon a fluctuating amount of feed raw slurry Qs,Optimal rotational speed Sso (rpm) of screw=Rotational factor S1×Processspeed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); andOptimal rotational speed Cso (rpm) of outer cylinder screen=Rotationalfactor C1×Process speed of raw slurry (m³/m²/h); and a screw drivingmachine and a outer cylinder driving machine are controlled based on theoptimal rotational speeds Sso and Cso of the screw and the outercylinder screen, respectively, at a time when starting to operate thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener and when the thickenedsludge concentration X of thickened sludge, which is discharged from thedifferential rotation rate rotary thickener, is lower than the upperlimit X max of the thickened sludge concentration and higher than thelower limit X min of the thickened sludge concentration.